I'm not really remembered by any old members, because I didn't join until around 2012, but this place is the reason I still write. I made an account just to start some shitty RP that I ripped off of that book about Greek demi-gods that was popular back then, and my grammar was atrocious. In retrospect, I should have been crucified for it all.

But I wasn't. Jerry sent me a revised version of the original post for the RP with all the errors corrected, and people actually joined. That RP is about 76 pages long in all, and it's overall pointless and had no sense of direction because I was new, but just the sense of nostalgia I get from thinking about it is enough to make me glad I did it. Two of the people that joined that RP I still talk to on Skype to this day.

I eventually moved on from just the RP section to join a guild, though, Elemental Elites. I didn't know anything about the game on a competitive level, but I wanted to act like I did. It was probably really easy to see through all of my bluffing, but Roloc ignored all of that and still helped me out and taught me to battle.

Some of my best memories from this site were made on PO. Not just battling, either. Roloc can tell you a few of us weirdos used to use it as a place to write before I knew what Skype and Google Documents were. It also gave us gems like this:

I don't even know why I remember it, but I can still remember the day I was hanging out in the main chat and that was said. Weird stuff like that used to happen all the time. It was really fun to just hop on see what shenanigans the server was getting up to that day.

All good things must come to an end, though, and I guess this really is the end of the line for Pokemon Universe. It's been a great time, thanks for teaching me to write and helping me mature from the stupid teenager I used to be.

Aaron shoved his hands into his pockets. "Yeah, I have. She was a lot like Sun Wukong: all of the attitude, but none of the humor." Sighing, he leaned back against the wall. That was one more person he could be sure didn't like him. "She didn't like fighting me all that much. She's really based around those turrets, and I didn't give her all that much time to set them up."

He looked back at the screen, watching Discord backpedal. He wasn't going to win doing that. "That's not why she doesn't like me, though. I think I'd be less confused if it was." Aaron shook his head wistfully. "She says I ruined her Super Move, somehow, and now she can't use it."

AaronAaron looked up at the scene displayed on the monitor: a TV-headed man VS an armored crab lady. "Yeah, it was." He snickered, recalling the battle that Discord had come in third place one-vs-one. "It's hard to believe you two didn't notice me." He shook his head, looking away from Jessie, back to the battle that was currently underway.

The smile on his face curdled like rotten milk left out on a sunny day when he saw Goldlock pull the drone out from her shell. Memories that he had forgotten rushed back to the front of his mind like a tidal wave, leaving him slightly dizzy and nauseous, his stomach turning precariously. "I remember her now!" He groaned, smacking his palm into his forehead hard enough to leave a red whelp. "I can't believe I didn't recognize her before. . ."

Aaron chuckled at her suggestion, which slowly grew into a deep, healthy laughter that rumbled up from his stomach and filled the area around him as Jessie animatedly acted out what he should be doing. "That. . . was amazing." He wiped a tear from the corner of his eye, smiling brightly, shoving the weird way the other girl had looked at him to the back of his mind. "I'm not sure I'm quite that flexible, though. I'd probably end up flat on my face."

He offhandedly rubbed at the Nimbus Cloud astral mark with the palm of his left hand, nervously tracing small circles on it. The room was a good bit quieter than he had expected it to be; most of the people were off on their own, or talking to their teams to rehearse last minute strategy. It was a bit unnerving, especially after a representative of the Galactic Tournament dropped in to tell them one of the competitors had been replaced at the last second.

Aaron leaned against the wall and watched the new guy, Tyler, interacting with the girl with a TV-box on her head. They both seemed nice enough, at least; maybe not everyone here is so bad after all. The blonde looked over at Jessie, and recalling that she had been battling for six years, asked, "Is it a normal thing for people to be replaced so late?"

As the words echoed out, Steven closed his eyes, sliding a hand over the gray, glowing symbol on his forearm out of habit. The world seemed to shift and change around him as he felt himself divided up, until finally, all of him made it to a body.

In a clearing of the forest, sparks of color began to fly out in every which way, before a single, massive die was thrown into the air from seemingly nowhere; rolling for several seconds above the forest, before flashing a single number in every direction: One. In immediate response, the die seemed to explode downwards in a myriad of color, as a single figure was constructed from the ground up amidst the chaos. Inconspicuous, his entrance was not.

The figure stood a bit taller than Steven, however, a good bit of that was simply his head. Atop his body was an old, CRT-TV, with several dials on the front. The display by default showed a bit of a color-spectrum, before fizzling out into a static-y mess. The static was interrupted as a smile was 'drawn on', in mess of scrambled colors; until a flash of light overtook the screen, and the display turned to a blank screen.

His outfit was rather normal in comparison to his head; he wore a a striped dress-coat with a white dress-shirt, and an orange bow tie. He wore white gloves, with a pair of brown dress-shoes at the bottom of it all; and in his left hand, he carried a wooden cane, similar to a Sheppard's crook in shape. At a snap of his gloved finger, a pair of small dice appeared over his left hand, palming them as he began to walk around.

A muffled whistle echoed out through the forest as he walked; prompting him to pause, and tuck his cane under his arm as he began to turn the dials. His voice grew clearer, ever so clearer with each turn, until the number '58' was displayed on his screen; and his voice came through crystal clear. Perfect. "Aha! There we go!" He exclaimed, as he took his cane and began to lean on it. "Now then... Where is our opponent?" He asked aloud, his volume increasing as he twisted a different dial up; perhaps he was trying to lead them to him.

AaronAaron wavered when he saw the girl - Alexa's - reaction to seeing him, and the fact that she painstakingly went out of her way to pretend he hadn't been the one to call to her to the stage. She brushed past him with her shoulders hunched, curled into herself like everything around her was hostile and her hoodie was the only shelter from it. Did he know her? The name had seemed familiar, and when he got a good look at her she appeared familiar too, but trying to wrestle the memory from the foggy recesses was like trying to dodge every drop of rain when running through a storm. In other words, it was rather pointless.

"Huh...?" Aaron shook his head to clear away the thoughts, turning around to find Jessie shouting at him from across the room. A smile stretched across his face out of habit and he closed the distance between them so he didn't have to shout himself, saying, "Hehe, it could be. I could call my fans monkeys," he stuttered over the word "fans", because it was still weird to think that he had people looking up to him.

"They'd be my monkeys, and I'd be their king," he struck a dramatic pose, puffing himself up and stabbing a thumb into his chest. After only a second, he broke the pose and laughed. "What do you think? Too cheesy?"

Aaron took a moment to gather his thoughts before he answered the interviewer. His heart was pounding heart enough that he was scared it was going to burst out of his chest, like some freaky alien in those B-movies he had seen, and staring out at the crowd wasn't doing him any favors. He had been in front of a stadium of people before, but never to this scale and they had never been focused solely on him. "Uh.. It, uh... Yeah... I've only been battling for the last two years, and uh..."

The interviewer laughed, in the fake way a new's reporter does when they tell some shitty joke about the weather, and he patted Aaron on the shoulder. "Take your time, kid, we're in no rush!" He turned toward the audience. "You all aren't going anywhere, are you?" The roar of the crowd was more than enough assurance that they were, in fact, not leaving until they got their monies worth.

Aaron nodded, taking a deep breath and screwing his eyes shut hard enough he saw fuzzy colors, like the snow on a broken television. It helped him reign in his nerves and his thundering heart, and when he opened them again and looked it the crowd, he smiled. "It feels great to be here in general, but it's really cool that I won. Ash gave me a great match!"

"Well what do you know, it looks like we've got ourselves a rare species here: a good sport!" The interviewer was obviously experienced at his job. He pandered to the crowd and hyped up whoever his subject was, and then seamlessly shifted onto the next question before anyone got restless. "What were you thinking when he got up after that attack from the sky? That really looked like it was time for you to meet your maker, from our end."

Aaron flashed back to the moment he had watched the Dovahkiin rise from the rubble of the forest, and the hopelessness that had overwhelmed him as he plummeted from the sky. He had thought that he had messed it up again; he had failed Sun Wukong again, just like he had in his first battle with Jessie and Samus*. "At first? I was... well, I was pretty bummed out. I wasn't sure I could beat him without the Ruyi Jingu Bang or Nimbus Cloud, and I was a lot more hurt than he was."

"But you pulled it out in the end. What gave you the drive to finish the battle?"

The desire to not fail Sun Wukong. To prove that he did belong here, no matter what anyone else thought or said. The need to win and reassure himself that he could do it, and he wasn't in over his head. Aaron wasn't sure how to explain in just a few words everything that had been going through his mind. "I guess I just really wanted to win, and so did Sun Wukong." He smiled and leaned back slightly. "It also helped that we'd been in the same situation a couple times before, and a friend has been helping me out on staying synced."

"It sounds like you've got yourself a good team!" The interviewer glanced at his watch, and obviously he realized the time, because he shifted to the next question. "How do you think you'll do in terms of the rest of the tournament?"

The teenager wasn't really sure how to answer that one. He was still riding on the high from his first win: the thought that he had four or five more battles hadn't occurred to him yet. "I'm not sure. I'm just gonna take it a day a time and see how it all goes, y'know?"

"I certainly do! Don't want to stick your foot in your mouth, eh? Smart move!" He laughed and motioned with his hand as if to wave off his own bad joke. "Well, that's about all the time we have! Anything you want to say to any fans you have out there before you go?"

That was a thought that forced Aaron to stop his current thought process, sending his train of thought flying off of his mental train tracks, where it collided with the side of a mountain and exploded, just as the conductor jumped out the window and kicked a stray tourist in the head. He could have fans? He hadn't even considered that people would look up to him, and wasn't sure how to feel about it in the slightest. His entrance earlier was suddenly much more embarrassing. If he had fans, had any of them stopped being so when they had seen how much of an idiot he was? "Um... I'm the Monkey King?"

God damn it all, Aaron...

The interviewer burst into a bout of laughter at that, pinching the bridge of his nose and holding the mic away so it didn't pick up the noise he was making. "You're really something, kid," he said quietly, and then reigned in his laughter and brought the microphone back up to his mouth. "You heard him, folks! He's the Monkey King! Lets give our primate overlord a round of applause while we get ready for the next battle!"

The stadium clapped for him (possibly out of pity for how awkward he was), and Aaron was lead off the stage by the interviewer. "Good job out there, and don't worry too much about it. I've seen much more embarrassing things in my time." A smile tugged at the edge of the older man's mouth. "Go ahead and tell the next two contestants to head to the sync station, Monkey King."

Aaron face was stained permanently red from embarrassment. He graciously took the opportunity he had been provided to slip into the lounge where the rest of the battlers were waiting, keeping his head low, and only raised it long enough to loudly say, "Steven and Alexa, they want you to head out to the stage." The latter of the two names - which he had read off of the paper they had been given - seemed somewhat familiar, but he shrugged it off.*: Aaron had a battle with Jessie the first day he arrived, which he lost because she survived his ult, and he de-synced due to lack of experience.

AaronAaron obliged the high five and smiled with relief, glad to see a familiar face in the sea of strangers, who he knew thought of him as nothing but competition to be put down. "Work ran late, and the guy who was supposed to take over my shift canceled." He rubbed at the back of his neck?a nervous habit he had developed over the last month or two?and chuckled quietly. "Was about ready to tell my boss to shove it, but I can't really afford to get fired. . . literally."

It wasn't common knowledge to most, but Aaron's sponsorship wasn't exactly a package deal. He spent most of his free time at work, and he reviewed his own games and strategies. Thus far, he had been shouldering the work of an entire team on his own, and in the brief moments that his adrenaline would wear out it would show: baggy eyes, a tired slouch, and a tendency to black out the world around him and just go through the motions.

"I got here though," he laughed it off. "Had to run a mile and dress on the way, and my entrance might not have been the most subtle, but at least I didn't get DQ'd my first match...." Aaron trailed off when he heard someone shouting from back on the stage. A weird looking dude in a black and white suit, who was holding a microphone, was running backstage to chase after him. "Shit, did I mess it up again? Sorry Jess, I gotta go."

He jogged back onto the stage and over to the suit clad interviewer, hoping the strange fellow didn't give himself a heart attack over the interview. "My bad! I got a bit out of it after that last match, must have taken one too many hits to the head!"

Sun Wukong VS Dovahkiin: Part 2Wukong was a veteran at fighting trained martial artist and reading the body language of his opponent, but he was too busy taunting to notice the tackle until it was far too late to dodge. It lifted him off of his feet and knocked the wind out of him, and he ate the dirt hard enough that there was a loud CRACK that he was sure was one of his ribs shattering, because there was suddenly a sharp and throbbing pain in his abdomen. “Plegh!” He spat the mouthful of dirt and grass out into the Dragonborn’s face, and sharply brought his knees up to smash into the Dragonborn’s chest in an attempt to seesaw him off.

“Aarrgh, I’m blind!” The Dragonborn was pushed off and landed on his back. He was scrambling to his feet while trying to clear his eyes, somewhat panicked. “You’re dead you damned ape. Dead!” He swung wildly, seeing everything as a blur.

The Monkey King kicked back up to his feet quickly, unable to hold back a heavy grunt of pain as his full weight was brought down onto his wound. He easily swept the desperate attack away with a flourish of his staff, knocking the Dragonborn off of his balance, and the immediately followed up with a heavy blow to the stomach, snapping one foot forward and twisting his hip to achieve the full power of the swing.

The Dragonborn was knocked onto his ass again, but this time he decided to do something risky. He pushed up from his position towards the direction his foe just hit him. “WULD” he shouted, careening towards Wukong and balling up. He decided to cannonball this bastard if it was the last thing he would do.

Sun Wukong started to somersault over Dovahkiin, his muscles bunched and already bending at the knee to launch himself into the air, but the pain in his side flared white hot before he could and he seized up, gasping in pain. The blow hit him square on the chest and his breastplate shattered, and he was propelled into the trunk of an ancient tree that was behind them. He collided into it with enough force that the tree gave an agonized groan and slowly began to tilt on top of him. Sun Wukong reflexively raised his left arm to try and shield himself from the crushing weight, which proved to be a mistake, because the bone snapped like a dry twig. The Monkey King was buried completely under the tree, just the very end of his right hand and his feet poking out.

“Holy poop that actually worked?” The Dragonborn got up from the ground, a little tired, but not done. “You got more tricks marmoset? Or are you actually done for? Guess not seeing as your hairy ass is still here.” He inched towards the flattened primate, sword pointed at where Wukong’s torso should be beneath the tree.

“YOU DARE TO STRIKE THE GREAT SAGE, EQUAL OF HEAVEN?” Sun Wukong’s voice was like rolling thunder, booming out from every single corner of the arena like he was everywhere. “I’LL SHOW YOU, FOOL!” He lifted the tree off of the ground with a single arm and held it above his head and threw it at Dova, cradling his limp and injured arm close to his chest.

The Dova tucked and rolled out of the way. “Guess playtime is over!” He was smiling. “This is what I’ve been waiting for.” He tossed his sword aside. It already proved to be useless against Wukong. He was going balls out with this one. “Hey, Mankey King! MUL QAH DIIV!” With the utterance of his Dragon Aspect shout, the dragonborn was coated in armor resembling a dragon. The power seemed to explode from him. He ran towards his foe to fight mono-a-mono. “Fight me like a man!” He went with a left hook, and would try to follow it with a right haymaker.

Sun Wukong easily sidestepped the left swing, and caught the right in the palm of his good hand; the sheer strength of the blow was enough to drive him back several inches, and he was forced to dig his feet into the ground to hold out. “I am no man, mortal. I am much more, for I am the Monkey King!” The sky above parted and made way for a regal golden cloud that zoomed down toward them, and Wukong somersaulted above the treetop to land on top of it. “Witness my true strength!”

The Sage raised the Ruyi Jingu Bang above his head with a single hand as the cloud rose into the sky. It began to grow and widen at an immeasurable rate, and did not slow until it was twice the length and width of any tree in the arena, and probably ten times heavier. It stretched so high into the sky that it eclipsed the sun and threw an entire portion of the forest into a seemingly unending darkness, and yet he still managed to control it with a single hand. It looked like he was holding a skyscraper above him. “Never challenge the Great Sage, Equal of Heaven again!” He bellowed and channeled all of his strength and rage and pain into this final strike. The Nimbus Cloud hurtled toward the ground like a falling golden meteor, and Sun Wukong swung the staff down at Dovahkiin.

“You should dodge.” The dragonborn spoke in the back of his mind, but Ash had a better plan. “Nope, we’re catching that, and we’re gonna send it back to him” He raised his hands up and caught the pole, but it was a lot heavier than he thought. "WULD!” He tried to use the force of the shout to push back, but it only caused the ground around him to crack. “WULD!” A second time, but it still refused to stop. "WULD!” he slowed it down, could this be it? No, maybe one more time. "WULD!” Now he was pushing back, but it’s not enough. One shout, he had to make a choice. "WULD!” With that last word, he pushed to staff to the side of him, and jumped. The earth beneath him began to give way, and he made a mad dash towards safety. His armor would wear out any moment. Steady ground was just a few feet away…

The force of the staff hitting the ground shook the arena with the force of two planets colliding, and the entire forest trembled and the earth shook. Every tree for a mile was ripped away by their roots like a leaf blown in the wind, and a huge storm of dust had completely overtaken the section of the forest like a bomb had gone off, making it impossible to see anything but shadows. Sun Wukong knew he was in trouble. With his magic gone the Nimbus Cloud gave way beneath him, and the Ruyi Jingu Bang started to fade into oblivion. He was falling through the air, fast, and hit the ground beside the crater his attack had caused, making a much smaller version of it himself. “Eegh. . .” He groaned, but the combined will of astral and battler was enough to keep it together and stay synced. They had to win their first match.

With a gargantuan display of determination and grit, Sun Wukong climbed to his feet. His fur was matted to his flesh by blood and sweat and dust, his armor lie around him in ruined and fragmented pieces, and his broken arm still hung limply at his side.. He inhaled raspily, and coughed more blood into his good hand. “F-face the Great Sage, coward!” He roared to the sky with half of his normal volume, but all of his normal charm, his eyes narrowed to look for the shadow of a figure through the dust. He may have been weaponless and injured, but he had trained in Martial Arts longer than his fool of an opponent had been alive. He slid into an advanced offensive stance he knew utilized kicks more like second nature, and glanced around suspiciously.

Though the Dragonborn’s armor wore off, he wasn’t going to back down. His sword was good as gone, his magic pool was out, and all he had were steel covered fists. “You got one thing wrong about me friend. I’m no coward.” He went in with both fists clenched. He went with a right jab, and would follow with a straight kick to the sternum. “Let’s do this like grown folks do!” There was a look of respect on the dragonborn’s face.

Wukong weaved away from the first punch, but the immediate kick caught him off guard and he was sent reeling back a foot. What martial art style was this? There was no finesse to it, no display of skill; it was just brute strength and force. He could do the same. The Monkey King struck out at Dovahkiin with a feigned open-palmed strike at his chest meant to bait him into a false defense, and then quickly launched into a pattern of complex attacks directed at his stomach and face.

The Dragonborn fell for the bait and the other attacks landed perfectly, causing him to stumble back a few feet.. He still had enough in him to keep going, so he sent a punch into the stupid monkey’s face.

Wukong avoided the hit by barely an inch, and he felt the wind from it rush over his ear as it sailed by. He quickly forced the Dragonborn away with a roundhouse kick, desperately looking for an opening he could abuse before he was gassed. He was easily the more skilled of the two in hand-to-hand, but he had taken the brunt of the pain their first fight.

Dova kept coming, and responded with a kick of his own. Wukong saw his opening and tucked to the side to avoid the kick, then smashed a kick of his own into the side of Nord’s unarmored knee. There was a loud snap. The Dragonborn screamed in agony, and collapsed to one knee, but tried to endure it and get a punch in. Wukong caught the slow punch with his good hand, and then kicked him in his remaining knee. Dovahkiin fell to the ground, but planted both hands firmly into the soil and tried to push himself up. He refused to lose to an overgrown chimp. “I told you… I don’t go down that easy.” He had a plan, but didn’t know if it would work.

Sun Wukong spoke with a smirk, “Improve your skill! Then find me again.” The Monkey King went to end the fight, but the Dragonborn somehow managed to power through all of the pain and rise from the ground and launch himself in one final attempt to hit Wukong with his elbow.

Sun Wukong—tired of the same game and still in excruciating pain—pivoted on his heel and executed the most powerful reverse-roundhouse kick he could muster. The heel of his foot caught the Dragonborn hard on the jaw before he could reach him, and Dova’s momentum worked against him as his head snapped to the side fast enough to give him whiplash. The ground rushed up to meet him, and it was finally enough to put him away. Dovahkiin de-synced.

WINNER: Sun Wukong

Aaron de-synced but remained in his seat dumbly for a minute. His entire body ached as if he had been the one to take the metaphorical train that Dovahkiin had run over Sun Wukong. Instinctively he held the arm that had been broken close to his chest to protect it, and kept the foot that had been hurt in the last strike off of the ground. The crowd was roaring louder than he had ever heard, but it was like he was in a completely different place. None of this seemed real: how could he have won? Everything had been stacked against him.

In the arena, Ash was rubbing his jaw. “I can still feel that. Good game kid.” He put his hand out to shake Aaron’s hand. Normally he shoots his opponent in the face with his nerf darts, but he had nothing but respect for this guy.

Ash’s hand being shoved into his face broke Aaron out of his trance. “Thanks man, you too! I really thought you had us when that tree broke Wukong’s arm, and I’ve never seen anyone try to lift the Nimbus Strike like that!” The teenager looked like lightning trapped inside of a bottle: contained, but bouncing around and desperate to get out. Aaron was struggling not to start dancing around the stage to celebrate. “Great fight thou-....”

Ash walked off the stage, his team meeting him “Good fight Ash. We’ll go over the footage and consult Amadeus.” Ash put his hand up, “Fine, but do your research a little better for my next opponent. I don’t want to go in thinking their weakened and get knocked into another damn tree. If you guys need me, I’ll be down the street at the bar.” The team tried to stop him, but he just shoved them aside and kept walking. “Amadeus isn’t going to like this.” One said. Another simply shook their head and motioned the others to head back to the suite for analysis.

Aaron followed Ash off of the stage after awkwardly being ignored, but instead of exiting he headed to the battler area backstage where the rest of the competitors would have seen the battle. He was used to celebrating success with a team, and even though he didn’t have one here. . . maybe he could find a friend or two to enjoy the victory with him? That was the plan at least.

AaronThe abrupt hostility caught Aaron off guard, and he could only blink as the foam bullet whizzed over his shoulder, hit something behind him, and fell to the ground. Uh... Was he really that upset I was late? The puzzle pieces clicked together in his mind when Ash corrected him on the name. Oh. Can't say I blame him for wanting to use a nickname.

Aaron nodded and laughed the attack with the Nerf gun off. "Oh, my bad! I've gotcha man!" Ash didn't seem to acknowledge him (or maybe even care) about the apology, and instead took his seat and synced in. Aaron swiftly did the same, not wanting to hold the contest up anymore. He felt the familiar tug that ebbed at his mind increase, and he let it take him, descending into darkness.

Sun Wukong VS Dovahkiin: 1st halfSun Wukong hovered at the summit of the arena, sitting cross-legged on top of the Nimbus Cloud. The breeze jostled him from his soundless rest, and he opened his eyes, admiring the view from so high in the sky. The forest below looked like it was built out of baby trees; they seemed so small from so high in the sky, and - was that a warrior?

The Dragonborn synced in, landing on his two feet in a clearing. He took quick note of his surroundings, a perfect circle of trees and a dense growth towards the north. He awaited Wukong and the signal to fight.

The Monkey King’s lips curled in a smile. On his whim, the Nimbus Cloud descended at a rapid pace and headed in the direction of The Dragonborn. “Greetings, horned warrior! I am the Great Sage, Equal of Heaven! Who are you?”

“Finally, a worthy opponent. I am Dovahkiin, lost bloodline of Tiber Septim, and slayer of dragons. Might I ask of your name Great Sage so that I may have the bards sing of it for ages to come.” He readied his sword, and had Oakflesh cast to take on the look of wood.

“Songs about me?” Sun Wukong posed to puff out his chest and make himself appear more grand. “I am Sun Wukong, the Monkey King!”

“No you’re not, I am!” A voice said from behind Dovahkiin, and another Sun Wukong hopped around excitedly. “Don’t listen to this impostor!”

“Silence, both of you!” Another voice, identical to the first two, shouted. “I am the real Sun Wukong and I will not listen to you fools slander my name!”

The three bipedal, anthropomorphic monkeys continued to argue rather loudly - and boisterously - over which of them was the real one, completely ignoring The Dragonborn in their angry tirade.

The Dragonborn wasn’t phased in the slightest. The only way a strong opponent will fight is if you show your strength to them. "WULD!” He dashed towards the three monkeys, slicing at all of them in one go. They all disappeared in a puff of smoke. “So it was an illusion. No warrior would be so blind to turn their back on their foe.”

“Where do you think the real Handsome Monkey King is?” Sun Wukong said from behind Dovahkiin. He was standing upside down on the Nimbus Cloud, his head eye-level with the horned helmet the warrior wore. “Wait! That’s me!”

He dropped off of his cloud and righted himself mid-air, landing nimbly on his feet. “Why did you have to destroy all of me so fast? Couldn’t you have left them alive for a little longer?”

The Dragonborn jumped from the voice behind him. Another illusion, or was this the real one? “A tricky one aren’t you? I had to see for myself. Fought many a mage who made magical clones.” The Dragonborn cast Magelight at his foe, a bright ball of light came from his hands at a quick speed. He followed it, ready to strike once it landed.

Wukong brought the Ruyi Jingu Bang up (which he was gripping with his tail) to block the overhead strike from the sword of eternal cold. He wasn’t even paying attention to the battle, though, more curiously poking at the light stuck to his chest. “What’s this? A wisp of light?” He tried to create a clone, but the light stuck to him, revealing him as the true Sun Wukong. “That’s not fair! You’re taking the fun out of it!”

“Call it a tactical measure.” The dragonborn's voice had changed. It sounded arrogant, and a little unsettling. “You want to talk fair? They told me you could make clones. So I waited for you to play around like the child you are.” He moved in, screaming "Wuld!" to close the gap and tried to land a kick on the monkey king.

The kick struck Wukong’s breastplate with enough force to launch him into the air and leave it with a dent. He managed to land on his feet in a low-lying branch of one of the trees, but he didn’t look all that winded. The Monkey King scratched at his chin curiously. “What else did they tell you about me? Did they mention how Handsome I was?”

“They said you smelled like ass.” The dragonborn had to keep up the pace. That kick was impressive, but it would be a bit before whirlwind sprint could be used. He came under the tree. "Hey Monkey King.” The dragonborn slapped his ass and started to hoot and holler.

Wukong clapped his hands together. “Oh! Are we doing party tricks?” He squeezed his eyes shut tightly, and grew two more heads, four more arms, and was suddenly holding three Ruyi Jingu Bang. “What do you think of this?”

Dova placed one foot on the trunk of the tree, and raised the other while shouting Wuld. He ramped up the side of it, getting on the same level as Wukong, and taking a swipe with his sword from the side at his foe. “Not even that scary buddy. I got a handy from five chicks at once.”

“But I’m a Monkey with six arms!” The Sage moved all six arms, creating a wall of Ruyi Jingu Bang in front of him. The sword bounced harmlessly off of the defensive move. “Watch this!” He brought all three of the poles around simultaneously to swing at the Dragonborn’s midriff.

“Oomph” The Dragonborn was sent flying into another tree, falling towards the ground. “Nope, can’t fly…” He slammed his sword into the trunk to slow his descent. The bark froze when the blade entered, but gave him a good hold. “That hurt more than I thought it would. Was pretty sure his power drops in that form.” He would have to yell at the research department later about it. He climbed down the tree, but was a still a little winded.

Wukong snapped his fingers and all of his extra heads, arms, and Ruyi Jingu Bang’s returned to the normal form. “The Great Sage is hard to catch off guard!” He shouted (to nothing in particular) and hopped off the branch to land in front of the Dragonborn. “Ready for the real fun to start?”

AaronAaron brushed himself off, doing his best to make himself presentable. He pulled his beanie down more over his head, and straight his unbuttoned flannel to make sure that his sponsorship symbol was still visible beneath it.

"Sorry for the misunderstanding, Jenkins," He rubbed the back of his neck, his cheeks stained by an embarrassed blush. "I'll make sure to be here on time - and in the right place - next time."

Without waiting for a response, Aaron pivoted on his heel and sprinted onto the stage. He could feel thousands of eyes staring at him and judging him, and it made the hair on the back of his neck stand up out of sheer fear, so he chose to focus on his opponent instead. "Hey, man, sorry I was late! Hope we can still get off on the right foot... Ashley, was it?" Aaron thought it was a weird name for such a huge, intimidating guy.

While he was talking, he hurriedly punched in his information into the console, doing his damnedest to make up for lost time. He didn't even take time to marvel at how cool it all was, like he normally did. It pulled up a 3D image of Sun Wukong on top the Nimbus Cloud, with his name above his head in bold orange letters, and displayed his strengths, weaknesses, and abilities beneath that. "Ready whenever you are."

AaronAaron was close enough to see the entrance of the Galactic Stadium now. The building was a shining star in the otherwise dark city, easily discernible from miles around, and he was close enough to hear the music blasting with deafening force. His muscles burned like he hadn't felt in the last two years, and his lungs screamed for him to slow down and breathe, but the thought of being late was enough to give him his second wind.

The looming figures of two tall men wearing black jackets that read "SECURITY" in big, bold yellow letters blocked the entrance. Aaron knew he wasn't supposed to enter through here - the competitors had a special entrance in the back that lead directly to their waiting room - but he could hear the announcer calling for the first contest and knew he didn't have time to loop around the big building.

"Sorry fellas, no time to explain!" Aaron burst through the entrance. The two men lunged at him and tried to grab him, but he ducked under their outstretched arms, stumbled for a second and then kept running. He was in the final stretch now, and he wasn't going to lose this tournament before he had ever even made it to the starting line.

"Aaron Stillen, please report to the sync station! I repeat, please report to the sync station! This is your last chance before you forfeit the match!" The announcer's voice was even louder now that he was inside the building, where every wall had a huge speaker tacked up to it. Aaron weaved through the crowd of people standing around in the lobby, yelling apologies for bumping them as fast as he could while simultaneously staying a step ahead of the security guards. They were following him now, and they were taking none of the precautions to not run people over.

He careened into a doorway, and stopped dead in his tracks. This was the stadium: every inch lit up by lights, ever single extra space covered by gigantic monitors that were playing runs of past battles and advertisements, a live band playing on stage and every single seat filled - an accomplishment that blew his mind, because he knew the Galactic Stadium held well over 100,000 people. He could even see the sync station, with a huge man (who he assumed to be Ash Williams, his opponent) standing on the left side, tapping his foot impatiently."I'm here! I'm not forfeiting!" Aaron shouted, leaping over the blockade that had been set up to divide where the spectator seats ended and the arena began. He sprinted over to the sync station Ash was at and doubled over, his hands on his knees as he greedily sucked in the air he had been denying his lungs. "Sorry I'm late, I got caught up at -"

Before he could finish his sentence a security guard crashed into him, and he was slammed into the ground. "No! No, I'm supposed to be here! I have an ID, I just was late and I couldn't take the normal entrance and - " he continued to stutter an incoherent explanation, rummaging through his shirt pocket and pulling out an ID that matched his name and description.

(Really struggled with this post. To clarify: Aaron entered through the spectators area, if that wasn't clear. The reason he got tackled by the security guard was 1.) he didn't present an ID, and 2.) any competitor is supposed to come through the backstage area.)

AaronThis dinner rush is going to be the death of me! Aaron flipped several of the burgers on the grill over, struggling to hold back his coughing as the smoke stung at his eyes. They had him trying to do way too much at once; he was the only person cooking burgers for the entire joint, and he still had to take the fries out of the fryer.

"God, the fries!" He nearly dropped one of the burgers on the ground in his haste to turn around, splattering a bit of grease into the air, which landed on his arm. "Ow!" Aaron did, in fact, drop the spatula that time, cradling his stung arm to his chest and trying to wipe the grease off.

"What's taking so long?" The manager, an older man who had worked there longer than anyone bothered to remember, shouted from in front of the counter. "And what's that racket?!"

"Nothing! They're almost done, sorry!" Aaron yelled back, hurriedly throwing the spatula in the sink, already moving toward the fryer. He pulled the basket out, and to his great relief, the fries were only slightly overcooked. The majority of them were still crunchy, golden shards of greasy goodness. He didn't waste anytime throwing them onto plates by the handful, ready to be served up with the hamburger.

The waiter - a sweet, sixteen year old girl that looked just as flustered as him - took the orders as soon as she could, and Aaron heaved a sigh and gave himself a second to relax. When is he going to let me go? The normal dinner cook had called in sick that night, and so even though his shift was supposed to be done over an hour ago, he was still here. He glanced at the clock apprehensively. I'm gonna miss the match if I don't get out of here soon.

Just the thought of forfeiting his first match made Aaron's stomach turn. He had been working overtime to make sure he could afford to take the next two days off to train, and now it was probably all for nothing. He had come all this way just to be behind before it all started. "No, that's not gonna happen. I can still make it on time if I get going soon."

"Are you talking to yerself, kid?" His boss, standing in the doorway, glared at him like he had grown an extra head. "Y'know what, don't answer that. We got another guy in here, you can go ahead get gon--" By the time the man had looked up, Aaron was gone from behind the counter, and the door to the restaurant was swinging in the wind. His was work hat was lying on the floor, in the spot he had been moments before.

"THANKS, BOSS, I'LL PAY YOU BACK SOMEHOW!" Aaron hollered over his shoulder, squirming out of his work shirt, which had his sponsorship shirt beneath it. He did his best to keep running while he was changing, hopping on one foot at one point while he changed his shoes from the ugly, black no-slip shoes to his worn down sneakers: he still had a mile to go, and the match started in eight minutes!

HumanName: Aaron StillenAge: 19Personality: Aaron is always happy and carefree, eager to make friends with anyone that will put up with him - and many that won’t. He has a bit of a bullheaded determination in him, and a competitive streak that would put many people to shame. If he does end up with a loss, it doesn’t seem to bother him; it just adds fuel to his fire. Overall, he just generally likes to to astral battle and makes friend, and he’s good at both.Sponsorship:Simply Electronic• A small business from his hometown; they the smallest companies in the tournament, with no actual standing in the Astral Scene.Biography: Aaron grew up in a small town, small enough not to be featured on any maps. It was small enough for him to know everyone on a first name basis, and for his Mom to get a report on every step he took. He spent most of his time listening to music and hanging out with friends, or preparing for the next (American) football game he would be at, but eventually he was bored. He yearned for something new, and that’s when he found out about astral battling.

He had been having dreams for a long time about a monkey man who demanded a challenge, and the image of a cloud had appeared on his right bicep, but he had no idea what it meant. When he found out, he threw himself into battling wholeheartedly, glad to have something new to do. Then, after two years of battling random people, he found out about tournaments, but he needed a sponsor. Who would sponsor a nobody from a small town, with a slightly better than average record at best?

The answer came in the form of a nobody from a small town. The owner of the local electronic supply store and one of the most well off people in town offered to sponsor him, on the promise that he wear a shirt with his symbol on it when he battled in tournaments. Aaron agreed to everything, eager to get started, and the rest - as they say - is history.Appearance:Astral Mark:Right BicepTheme Song:"Where Dreams Begin"

AstralName: Sun WukongWorld or Region: Flowers and Fruits Mountain, Ancient ChinaTechnique:•Undefeated Body: When Sun Wukong falls beneath a certain threshold of health, the symbol on his forehead will glow with holy power, filling him with renewed vigor and materializing a set of translucent golden-orange spirit armor that increases his durability by a large portion. (Note: this does not heal him)

•Art of Extension - Crushing: Sun Wukong has the Ruyi Jingu Bang extend in length, and he slams it down in front of him, dealing damage to all enemies caught in the area and slowing them. If this attack misses, the staff becomes lodged in the dirt for a second, creating an opportunity for counter-attack from his opponent.

•Art of Deception - Half Clone: Sun Wukong creates a harmless clone that is identical to himself, and solid enough be believable and not walk through the environment like a ghost. While this clone is active, a powerful magic obscures the mind of his opponent to the point they struggle to decipher which is the real him, but a strong willed foe can through the ruse with effort.

•Art of Extension - Cyclone: Sun Wukong has the Ruyi Jingu Bang extend in length, and he whirls it around him like a cyclone, dealing damage to within ten feet of him and knocking unprepared enemies off their feet. He is left slightly reeling after this ability, if it misses, creating the perfect window for a counter-attack

•Art of 72 Transformations - Thousand Hand: Sun Wukong transforms himself to have three heads, six arms, and three Ruyi Jingu Bang to make himself a more adept fighter against multiple combatants. This is useful when fighting crowds, but decreases his overall strength

Strengths and Weaknesses:(+)Birthed from stone: Wukong is hard-bodied and extremely resilient, highly resistant to poison and other things of the like that would infiltrate a normal human body.

(+)The True Master: Wukong is the true master of the Ruyi Jingu Bang and Nimbus Cloud, and can summon them both to him with a whim, making him hard to disarm and disable.

(+)An Ancient Immortal: Sun Wukong has trained in all styles of combat for a millennium, and his senses and reflexes are finely attuned to the world around him and combat because of it. He can hear much more than the average Yogi Bear, and react much faster too.

(+)Christ's Sake, He’s a Monkey: Possibly the greatest strength of Sun Wukong, he is incredibly acrobatic. It is a small feat for him to somersault to the very top of a tall tree, and move from tree top to tree top without hesitation

(-)Equal of Heaven: Wukong is arrogant and self-assured, and will meet any enemy head on with no hesitation. He has paid the price for this many times, but he does not feel the need to learn.

(-)Monkey + Fire = no: Wukong was once trapped in the Laozi's Eight-Trigram Furnace and boiled for forty-nine straight days with no break. He is not physically weak to the element, but he has a mental block that makes him extremely terrified of it.

(-)The Stone Isn’t Light: Wukong is unmatched in acrobatic prowess, but he is not fast, even if his reflexes are. He is rather average on his feet, and cannot keep up with highly mobile enemies without the use of his Nimbus Cloud.Biography: Warrior, rebel, trickster and monk; Sun Wukong is known by many titles in the East, but it was his Journey to the West that made him a hero.

In his youth, Sun Wukong gained the leadership of the Monkey Tribes, learned the secret arts and spells from a Taoist monk, and acquired the legendary Ruyi Jingu Bang from Ao Kuang, a staff that could change size according to his whim. He defied death itself by erasing his name from the Book of Life and Death, and united many of the other Monster Tribes who sought to ally with him, an act that garnered the attention of the Jade Emperor.

In an attempt to better control the Monkey King, the Jade Emperor awarded him a title in the heavens, but when Sun Wukong discovered his new position was little more than “Royal Stable Boy” he grew angry and he declared himself “Great Sage, Equal of Heaven” and waged war on the heavens. For this treasonous act he was finally captured, and imprisoned beneath a mountain for five centuries.

At long last, the humble monk Xuanzang was seeking disciples to protect him while on his Journey to the West to collect the Indian Sutras. Sun Wukong gladly agreed to serve him, but the Buddha wrapped a golden circlet around the Monkey King’s head so that Xuanzang could control him. With three other disciples, they faced eighty-one trials during their quest, and collected the sutras. For his service and his strength, Sun Wukong was awarded Buddhahood, finally ascending to heaven and gaining immortality.Super Move:"Try hitting them harder."Wukong somersaults onto the Nimbus Cloud and flies to the summit of the arena. While he is ascending, he expands his staff to an enormous proportion, and then the cloud hurtles back to earth at ludicrous speed and he swings the giant Ruyi Jingu Bang down with all his might. When he is finished, he loses all of his magic: this includes the mastery over his staff and the Nimbus Cloud.Appearance:Theme Song:"Soul of China"

Monkey you may think of mebut ordinary I am by no means: timeless and of primal forces from a rock I was bornat the Mountain of Flowers and FruitI, pure energy, unrestrainedin perpetual motion

Powers? Ha! you mortals are easily impressed by miracles and powers aren't you, you puny lot?

In one turn I can travel a 108 000 liI can do numerous transformationsI can cloud travel and my magic staff that I keep in the size of a sewing needle when not in usehas similar powers; and with each hair of mine I can be an infinity of myself -though I'll confessI can't make a complete change into humanas my tail just won't go away

So in all, great deeds I'm capable of; and I wiped my name off the Book of Life and Deathso I am immutable - so why am I even talking to you weaklings? Go climb a tree, you imbeciles! And stay up there! Don't descend!